St. Lucie 7, Palm Beach 4
Domingo Tapia was handed a no decision in St Lucie’s 7-4 win last night against the Palm Beach Cardinals. Tapia yielded three runs and six hits through five innings pitched. Tapia allowed the first run of the game in the second inning, but the only hits he allowed in the second were softly hit. In the third inning, Tapia allowed a RBI double to Starlin Rodriguez, which put Palm Beach ahead 2-0. The next batter, Danny Stienstra, hit a RBI single to centerfield to make the score 3-0.
Tapia struggled with his command in the 5th. He allowed a single and yielded two walks to load the bases. However, Tapia managed pitch out of the bases loaded jam when he got Nick Longmire to ground out to end the inning.
St Lucie again received strong performances offensively from Kevin Plawecki and Dustin Lawley. Plawecki hit a RBI double to left field to put St Lucie on the board in the 4th. Robbie Shields drove in another run in the inning with a RBI single to centerfield. In the bottom of the 6th, Dustin Lawley blasted a go ahead home run to left field that put St. Lucie up 4-3.
The Palm Beach Cardinals were able to tie the game in the 7th against St Lucie relief pitcher, Carlos Vazquez. Vazquez allowed a double to Collin Walsh to lead off the inning, and he allowed the tying run to score on a RBI single by Starlin Rodriguez.
However, St. Lucie responded in the bottom off the 8th, and was able to take the lead for good. Kevin Plawecki drove in two runs on a RBI double to right field, which put St. Lucie ahead 6-4. St. Lucie tacked on another run in the 8th on a RBI single by Cam Maron. Tim Byrdak pitched a perfect ninth inning to close out the game.
The Mets will play game two of the series against Palm Beach on Thursday at 6:30. The pitching matchup will be Angel Cuan vs Zach Petrick.
Key Stats:
Domingo Tapia: 5 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 K
Carlos Vazquez: 1.2IP, ER, 2 H, K
Tim Byrdak: 1 IP, 0 ER, K, SV
Dustin Lawley: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
Kevin Plawecki: 3-for-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R
Robbie Shields: 2-for-4
Man Plawecki looks like he could be something special, they need to challenge this kid in higher level ball though.
This might be wishful thinking, but if Plawecki and Boyd keep playing at this level I would love to see both of them get even a short stint in Binghamton before the end of the year.